Air-ship.



PATENTED JAN. l, 1907.

Jg MEDBN.

AIR SHIP.

unmulon FILED Inmo. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR. Y. Jaim Meden apparent from a detailed description of the invention, whichiis as follows:

vation with wings fully open.

y the UNITED sfrn'rns PAT-ENT orifice.

JonN Mnn'nii`or MissoURi.

AIR-SHIP.

Specieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1907.

Application led January l0l 1906. Seria-1 'Noi ZAOG.

To all wtom it may concern'.-

Beit known that I, JonN .'MEDEN, a citizen of the-"United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Air-Ships, of l which the following is a full, clear, and exact l description, reference being had to the acl companying drawings, forming a part'hereof.

My invention has` relation to improvements in airships; and it consists in the( novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

ln the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of the air-ship in flight. Fig. 2 is a rear ele-- A Fig. 3 is a rear elevation with wings closed. Fig. tis a vertical section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional detail through the body of the ship. Fig; 6 a transverse vertical section on line 6 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 17 is a vertical sectional detail of the wingatthe rear edge thereof, showing the rail for the travel of the retarding-arm,

section being on line 7 7 of Fig-. 4.

The obiect of my invention is to construct an air-ship whose operating parts shall conform as nearly as possible to corresponding parts in 'flying birds, the methodof propulsion of the bird being imitated in all essential particulars. f

A further object is to construct an airship which need not necessarily be supplemented by' the ordinary gas field or bag, one requiring in its construction. a minimum number of parts, one readily controlled byv the operator, one having its propelling-wings disposed tothe best advantage relativelyl to the body portion of the shi' and one pos-` sessing further and other a vantages-better y Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the body portion or casing of the ship, being prefer-abin f oblong in shape and having a'tapering prow?, hinged to the body portion'and oscillatlng 1n a horizontal plane for-purposes of steering they ship. The prow may be de-l flected to the .right or left by the operator, seated in the basket 3, by means of cords c c, secured to the terminal arms it of a depending post Li, carried by tlie prow. The body or ship proper is encompassed byan enveloping ame F, having an u per horizontal overhanging portion, the si es of said overhanging portion forming the hinge-rods 5 for plates 7, which are in turn hinged along 'their inner edges to the upper horizontal rod 8, disposed along the ridge or roof of the body 1. In this way the body becomes suspended from or coupled directly to the wings, which are in turn supported by the frame F, and it is obvious from the connections described thalt within the frame the wingswill correspondingly oscillatey about the hinge-axes 5. It thus becomes necessary to reciprocate the body to insure propulsion for the wings. This reciprocation is accomplished as follows: Mounted' on a platform 9, forming an extension of the frame,y is an electric motorM,

whose shaft terminates in a crank-disk 10, from which depends a connecting-rod 11,-

said rod oneratin throu h an openm in theV l. if g g platform and.' its wer end being coupled-tothe member il.

The current is supplied by ythe wires 'w w, leading to a .storage battery conveniently housed withinl the body portionor ship l, the current'. being turned on or off by -any suitable switch mechanism (not shown) 'within easy reach of the operator. The sides of the ship are provided with supplemental 'wings G 6, which open and shut with the tall and rise of the ship, thereby steadying the latter in its movements, and the rear of the frame is provided with a hinged aeroplane 12, from which .lead suitable cords c c over pulleys and guide-loops to the basket 3,11? ig. l. With. theupward oscillations of the Wings 6 itis of course necessary that the air be through them, an for this purpose l provide thesame with gate-valves 1.3, which are rig. idly hinged or riveted at one edge, being free to yield or open for an upward movement of the wing, so as to permit the lto pass freely7 and automatically closing against any passage of for a downward oscillation ci' the w1ng,`Fig. 2. i

Since it is desirable that the wings shall be iretarded in theirVv upward oscillations and move rapidly in their downward stroke to develop 'the proper lifting ower, some prevision must be made to eiiecttiie retarding movement referred to. This is accomplished asfollows: Disposed Within the body-1 is a shaft or rod 14, having bearings in the teras the body reciprocates up and down.

verrnittcdto 'pass lr-eely g.

mmalwalls of the ship, the shaft 'carrying l exerted by the spring,

v'pulleys 17, opposite grooved pulleys 15, over which are wound stroke are retarded by the cables 16 and arms' cables 16, the cables passing through the sides of the body and guided over rollers or the openings in the ships sides, the ends of the cables being secured to the wings 6 6. The shaft 14 is secured atan intermediate point to one end of a flexed or coiled spring 18, whose opposite end is fixed to the wall .of the body portion 1. Now as the wings -oscillate upwardly they exert a ull onsthe ends of the cables 1'6, and since. the middle portions of thecables are wound over the pulleys thel draft on the cable v ends tends to rotate and, in fact, does rotate the shaft-14 about .its axisagainst the tension the resisting power of the spring of course retarding the movement f vious u Vward oscillation of the wings.

of the wings upwardly. The moment, how-- ever, vthat the wings begin theirdownward movement such downward movement is assisted by the tension of the spring, which tends to restore the rock-shaft 14 to its original position, the return of the shaft rotating .the pulleys 15 in the opposite direction and' drawing in the outer ends of the cables,which were pulled out orunwound with the pre-l The rear en of therock-'shaft 14 terminates in an arm 19, 'having a pinion 20 disposed at its` airis of oscillation. This pinion meshes with a corresponding pinion 20 of a similar I "the rear wall of the ship-body 1.

arm 19', pivoted adjacent to the arm 19 on With the rocking of the shaft 14 a coeXtensive oscillation is imparted to the arm-,19 and a corresponding rotation-to the pini 1n 20, (which in kpoint of position is on the axis of the shaft 14,) andl since the pinion 20 meshes with the pinion 20" a corresponding oscillation is iin- -parted to the arm 19,. 1n other words, the arm 19 oscillates with the shaft 14' and the arm 19 oscillates in the opposite direction simultaneous y-.that 1s to say, the arms 19 19 oscillate in unison with the wings, being that the latter serve to rock the shaft 14,

which in turn imparts motion to the arms.

The free ends of the arms 19 19 carry rollers 21, which travel on rails 22, which are sel steady the wings,

cured tothe inner surfaces of the inwardly-. turned rear ed es or'flanges ofthe wings, Figs. 2, 2t, 7 he arms 19 19 thus serve to serving in the nature of guides therefor in and serving as assistants thereto in their (They serve as asthe resilient action of the spring 18 to their closed position or that position corresponding to the relaxed. condition of the spring.)-

Summarized, therefore, the operation is as follows: As the motor-shalt -revolves the connecting-rod 11 ,leading therefrom, reci procates the body 1 u p and down, and this in turn oscillators the Wings. These in their upward their upward oscillations 1919 under the action of the spring 18, the air passing freely through the wings by the opening of the gate-valves 13. In the downward oscillation of the wings they moverapidly, so as to secure a good purchase on the air, the valves 13 closing. In their downward stroke the wings are'of course assisted by thedrafton the cables 16 and the tendency of the arms 19A 19' to return to their closed position under the tension of. the

spring, the arms 1,9 19in their sudden return' to their closed position under th circumstances being properly cushioned by striking the rubber buffers 23 23. 1 Y

Having described my invention,'what l claim is,-

1. In an air-shi a suitable frame, a motor carried there )y, Wings hinged to the franle on either side thereof and oscillating in a vertical plane, a suit-able centrally-,disposed body, links connecting t-he adjacent inner portions of the wings tosaid body, inl termediate connections between said motor and body for imparting to the latter a vertiwings will oscillare in unison therewith but in contrary direction thereto, as s et forth.

2. .In an air-shi-p,a suitable frame, a motory carried thereby, wings hinged to theframe on either side thereof and oscillating-in a vertical plane, v-a centrally-disposed body suspended from the inner edges of the wings within the frame, suitable driving-gear interposed between the motorandbody for imi parting to the latter al vertically-reciprocating movement whereby the wings are correspondingly oscillated therewith but in a direction contrary to ,such reciprocations',y a pair of spring-controlled arms pivotally mounted in the rear .ofthe body portion, pinions for meshing the pivotal ends of the arms, the spring` tending to normally force the arns to a closing position, means forming a part of the wings for engaging the free ends of the arm,- whereby the tension of the springs retards the wings in ltheir vupward substantially IOO movement, the arnas assisting the down wardstroke or oscillation of the wings, substan-- tially as set forth.

3. 1n an air-ship, a frame, .a pair of' main driving-wings' hinged thereto and disposed.

on either side thereof, a body or ship suspended centrally -from the inner adjacent edges of the wings, and supplemental wings disposed along the body portion, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof l affix mysignature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN Manns; `Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, MARY D. WHiTooM bottom at the sides of the 9C i cally-reciprocating movement, whereby the 

